rest. She is always flying swiftly before a wind that mortals cannot feel. There is the memory of another craft, more sub- stantial than the phantom ship, and naore successful in attaining a port than Rambout's boat, that made the passage of the river between Wolfert's Roost and' Digitized by Microsoft® spectres of the Tappan Zee 217 the Rockland shore in 1776. Its occupant was the dashing soldier and arrant lover, Aaron Burr. When the American forces were near White Plains Burr was seized with a desire to spend an evening with the fascinating widow Provost, — Theodosia Provost, — who then lived a dozen miles back towards the Ramapo Hills on the other side of the Hudson. Riding at full speed along Petticoat Lane, which is the old road between White Plains and Tarrytown, attended by several of his devoted troopers, Burr reached the willow-shaded little bay near Sunnyside, while the night was still young. A boat was waiting for him, and, leaving his escort, he embarked, horse and all, and was ferried as rapidly and as silentl}'" as possible to the Rockland shore, where he remounted. A ride of a dozen rough miles, at night, through a country picketed by the enemy, should be enough to try the mettle of an ordinary lover. But Aaron Burr was no ordinary lover, which is perhaps the reason why in his generation his enemies were seldom found among the gentler sex. History discreetly neglects to furnish the details of the courtship that we know ultimately re- sulted in the winning of Theodosia 's hand and heart. By daybreak horse and rider were back within the American lines and no one but the troopers, the ferry- man, and the widow knew of that wild trip. There are two channels in this part of the river, one near the eastern and the other close to the western shore; between are fiats of comparatively shoal water, Digitized by Microsoft® 2i8 The Hudson River where formerly some of the older maps showed a small island, that was probably nothing more than a sand- bar. One of the familiar features of the shoals is that of the numerous shad poles that mark the fishing- grounds. Less important now than formerly are the oyster- beds that were once a feature of this part of the river. In the days when the Indians inhabited the shores of TAPPAN ZEE AND THE TARRYTOWN LIGHT the Hudson these were among their principal sources of subsistence, as evidenced by the extensive shell- heaps that still mark the site of many of their villages or camps. The water of the Tappan Zee is brackish, about half sea water and half fresh. The width from Tarrytown to Nyack is between three and a half and four miles, and communication between the two shores is kept up dur- ing the greater part of the year by ferry. Occasionally Digitized by Microsoft® spectres of the Tappan Zee 219 the whole expanse is a splendid deck of ice, over which skaters and sometimes sleighs cross. There have been some perilous episodes connected with the breaking of the ice and more than one exciting race for life. Years ago a whale, perhaps in search of the North- west passage, blundered into the river, it is said, and there is even a tradition that he grounded on the flats and had to wait for a tide to float him off. . Of course the boatmen were greatly excited and projected expe- ditions to meet and capture the monster, but it is not recorded that any one got near enough to seriously interfere with his departure. Piermont, above the northern extremity of the "ice- worn bosses of gneiss," is a village that was created when the Erie Railway built the mile-long pier that still projects into the river at this point. It is chiefly interesting because of its proximity to the village of Tappan, where Major Andr6 was executed. The house, that was long pointed out as the headquarters at Tap- pan, has been allowed to fall to decay. Quite recently, within a few years, the entire front of this building fell out. Most readers will remember the fate of the stone that Mr. Field erected as a memorial of the his- toric association of Tappan. Some rampant patriot, with more zeal than propriety, applied an explosive and destroyed it. The place where Nyack stands was once a part of the Philipse manor. This town, though of comparatively recent origin, is the principal one in Rockland County, Digitized by Microsoft® 220 The Hudson River and mxmbers among its inhabitants many of the repre- sentatives of old county families. The river front is here more accessible to the people of the town than are the shores of villages and cities